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Profs and Pints DC presents: “Ukraine and Russia on the Brink,” a look at the future of two warring nations in the midst of an unforgiving winter, with Michael Kimmage, professor of history at Catholic University and former U.S. State Department planner for that region.
The brutal war that Russian President Vladimir Putin began in Ukraine last February shows no signs of letting up. But the situation in each of the two nations directly involved in the conflict has changed dramatically since began, with both finding themselves on increasingly treacherous and uncertain paths.
Get a deeper understanding of recent developments and a sense of what might be ahead with Professor Michael Kimmage, who has given a series of outstanding Profs and Pints talks on the conflict over the past year.
Starting with Ukraine, Dr. Kimmage will describe how that nation has done what had seemed impossible. It has unified its people, rallied a vast array of countries behind it, beaten back Russia on the battlefield, and even mounted several successful attacks on military targets on Russian soil. At the same time, it is dealing with immense challenges as it tries to hold together as a society in the face of an aggressor bent on its destruction. It also faces very difficult decisions, such whether it should try to retake Crimea, attack elsewhere, or focus on defending the territory it already holds and deterring Russia from further invasions.
Turning to Russia, Professor Kimmage will discuss how Russia’ efforts to push Ukraine over the brink had led it to the abyss itself. Russia has descended into open dictatorship, its economy is deteriorating, and Putin’s ability to hold on to power even has come into question. Domestically it faces the possibility of war-induced turmoil evocative of imperial Russia in 1917 and the Soviet Union in the late 1980s We’ll consider what will happen if Putin begins to fail more conspicuously in Ukraine and at home, what Putin might do if Ukraine begins to reincorporate Crimea, and what might prompt Putin to resort to nuclear weapons.
Finally, Dr. Kimmage will turn his attention to the United States and what its policy should be in dealing with a major European war that seems unlikely to abate for a long time. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)
Image: Members of the National Guard of Ukraine on patrol last April. Photo from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine / Wikimedia Commons.
